Man City face Wolves this weekend and they’ll have to try and secure all three points without the services of Kevin De Bruyne.
The reigning Premier League champions host their rivals on Sunday afternoon and will be hoping that Liverpool drop points against Leicester City on Saturday to give them a chance to close the five-point gap between the two sides.
In order to do so, Guardiola will have been desperate to have a full strength side at his disposal, but as noted by Sky Sports, the Spanish tactician has confirmed that De Bruyne will not feature and will instead hope to make his comeback from a groin injury against Crystal Palace after the international break.
The Belgian international also missed the midweek win over Dinamo Zagreb with the issue, and so given his importance to the side, it’s arguably the sensible move to not even consider risking him in order to avoid a further setback.
De Bruyne has been in fine form so far this season as he has returned to being the driving force in midfield for Man City, bagging two goals and nine assists in nine appearances across all competitions.
Those two goals and eight of his assists have come in just seven Premier League outings though, and so that just goes to show how important he has been to Guardiola and his side’s early season form.
As noted by freelance injury analyst Ben Dinnery in his tweet below, he has confirmed that the 28-year-old has been left out of the Belgium squad over the international break too, and so that will be a boost for Man City as it gives De Bruyne a fortnight to continue to receive treatment and make a full recovery without any risk of re-injuring himself in action.
Kevin De Bruyne omitted from the #BEL squad. Injured his groin during the win at Goodison Park last weekend. #MCFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) October 4, 2019
